Looper for hosiery



Oct. 30, 1928; 1,689,465

M. L. VICTOR'IUS LOOPER FOR HOSIERY Filed D90. 14, 1923 s Sheets-Sheet l .mmm. 7/1/10 Oct. 30, 1928. 1,689,465

M. 1.. vlcToRlus LOOPER FOR HOSIERY Filed Dec. 14, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Mimi- Q R z" 3 m mwrol? )Y/TNESS.

Myer L V/bzorias ATTORNEYS.

Oct. 30, 1928.

M. L. VICTORIUS LOOPER FOR HOSIERY 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 14, 1923 Patented Oct. 30, 1928.

UNITED STATES MYER L. VIGTORIUS,

OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

LOOPER FOR HOSIERY.

Application filed December 14, 1923. Serial NO. 680,618.

This invention relates to an improvement in loopers for closing the open toe of stockings as they come from the knitting machine.

As is well known in the manufacture of stockings, especially those knit on circular machines, the stockings as they come from the knitting machine have an opening at the toe which must be closed.

The closing of the opening in the toe is offected by means of a device known as a looper, the stocking being provided with a looper round, or superfious fabric, to afford a handhold for the operator and enable the loops which are to be looped together to be engaged with the points on the looper.

When the loops to be formed together to close the toe are engaged with the looper points, the surplus fabric or looper round is out off close to the looper point-s, either by shearing means attached to the machine or by hand shears. After the surplus fabric is cut off, there are retained, by the loops on the looper points, thread ends or ravelings of the cut loops, which, if not removed, would be interlocked with the stitching when the loops on the points are joined to each other, with the result that an irregular. welted or heavy scam would be formed.

In the earlier loopers, these thread ends or ravelings were removed by hand and later by means of a brush.

In a patent issued to me January 6, 1925,

No. 1,522,348, there is disclosed an improvedform of brush devicc'for removing the thread ends, wherein the brush is so mounted and actuated as to be auton'iatically and continuously cleared of lint and thread ends so that a substantially clean brushing surface is always presented and further while the brush is so actuated that the bristles around the en tire brush will be subjected to the same wear, thus maintaining all the bristles at substantially the same length.

Now the object of my invention 1s to provide a brush device for loopers, which will embody in improved form the advantageous features of my above mentioned application and which will be capable of very fine adj ustment, thus insuring the maximum efficiency in operation, ready compensation for wear, and increased life.

A further object is to provide the device with novel shield and guard structure which will afford great protection to the looper from lint thrown by the brush device.

Having now indicated, in a general way, the

nature, purpose and advantage of my invention, I will proceed to a detailed description of apreferred embodiment thereof, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- I 7 Fig. l is a plan view, partially in section, of a looper-brush device embodyingmy invention. l v

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view on line 2-2 Fig. 1 showing a portion of the subject of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the subject of Fig. 1 looking at the left hand side.

Figs. 4 and 5 are views showing details of construction.

Fig. 6 is an elevational view showing arrangements of guards, with the looper brush device indicated therein.

Fig. 7 is a detailed view showing a portion of the upper guardand rotating table of the looper.

a designatesa supporting bracket on which is adjustably mounted a vertical rod Z) held in adjusted position by means of a clamp screw a 1n cooperationv with jaws a, one'of which is in threaded engagement with screw (4 while the other is sleeved thereon. Rod Z) is provided near its lower end with a boss 0 adjacent the upper face of the bracket a and a boss a adjacent its upper end. The boss 0 is eX- tended at one side to form a' housing and drilled for the passage of an adjusting screw a which engages in a threaded hole in the supporting bracket a and enables a fine adjustment of the vertical rod Z) in reference to the bracket a. The boss cl is drilled for the reception of an end of an angle bracket (2 secured thereto by a nut e and provided with a boss 7 adjacent its end which is mortiscd as at g with boss (Z. The opposite end of the angle bracket 0 is drilled and tapped for the reception of a threaded bushing 7L and split. and provided with a clamping bolt i for the purpose of clamping the bushing in any adjusted position. The angle bracket 6 with the vertical rod Z) forms an inverted U-shaped support and serves to support a shaft 7', one end of which passes through boss 0 and is held by a nut 70 while the. other end reduced as at 7" passes through bushing h.

Mounted for movement on the shaft j is a raveling brush Z provided with a wooden hub affording a friction surface m. Adjacent the brush is mounted for oscillation on shaft a disc 1% having a leather facing 0 and pro-- vided with a hub 29. The leather facing 0 is normally held indriving relation with the friction surface m of the brush by a compression spring 9, the tension of which, and hence the friction between the friction surface m and the facing o of disc 12-, may be adjusted by means of a nut r and lock nut r threaded on the shaft.

The hub 12 is provided with a cutaway portion 5 having a cam surface I therein, which. is arranged to coact with a fixed pin u extending from shaft into the cutaway portion.

Secured to shaft a center, adjacent the end of bracket e, is a segment '0 provided with an arcuate slot '10. A. bolt in is adapted to pass through the slot 10, through a bushing y threaded into bracket 6 and clamp the segment in adjusted position.

Passing through the boss 7, as a support, and held thereto by means of a set screw 1, is a curved bracket 2, which supports, at its lower end, a comb 3 adapted to act on the brush, as shown in Fig. 2.

The brush is actuated by means of a bell crank lever 4, the long arm ofwhich is connected to the disc n by means of an adjustable link 5; the connection between the link and disc by means of a ball and socket joint (3 giving a universal motion. The short arm of the bell crankis connected to the looper ctuating mechanism in any convenient mannor, not shown, by which the bell crank is given. a reciprocating motion.

In adjusting the device for operation, it is desirable that the link 5 travel as nearly po .ble parallel to the brush and to accomplish this, the mechanism is adjusted about support I) so that the angle of throw of link 5 will be split. In the movement of the mechanism for this purpose, it becomes necessary to vary the lengths of link 5, *hich, for this purpose, is made adjustable. Pivoted as at 7 to an extension 8 of the support a; is a box-like guard member 16 adapted to lie over the looper brush device, as shown in Fig. 6, and prevent the thread ends and lint brushed out from flying into the mechanism of the looper. To the lower edge of the inner wall of this guard is adjustably secured, by means of bolts 11 extending through slots in the wall of the guard, a strip of felt 10, the lower edge of which cut out to clear the looper point ll, as shown in Fig. 7, and extends below the edge of the guard and is adapted to bear on the rotating table 12 of the looper and act to support the guard. at the same time preventing the passage of any lint between the guard and rotating base of the looper. A stop 9 is positioned at the end of the extension 8 of the support 64 and is adapted to support the guard 16 when it is turned on its pivot 7 out of cooperating relation with the brush device, as indicated in Fig. 6.

Secured to the extension 8 of the support I vance of the saears, not shown.

counter-clockwise movement of ease-es a and depending therefrom is a. skirt guard 13.

In the crank -l; is continuously oscillated by the looper actuating mechanism and the material to be looped placed on the points in art A the placed fabric passes the shears, the surplus material or looper round is cut from above the loops on the points as is custon'lary. The

points with the loops thereon and the loose ends hanging thereto are p: esed under the brush after passing the shea in a step-bystep manner well known in the art. The brush is oscillated through the medium of link 5 to brush the loose threads from the loops on the points. The pressure of spring q is adjusted so as to cause the brush Z to move with disc at when the disc and brush are in engagen'ient with each other. As the device is illustrated in ig. 2, the brush and disc are being moved clockwise and will be so moved until the cam surface 2, rides under pin it for a short distance. As the cam surface Z rides under the pin u and as the pin reacl the end of the cam surface (see Fig. 1), the disc as will be withdrawn from the brush Z so that said brush will be free to move independently of said disc. Whendisc 77/ is drawn from friction surface m, the momentum of the brush will cause the brush to continue its clockwise movement for a short distance before the disc and brush are reengaged by the spring-g permitted to act by the release of pin a from cam surface t in the the disc.

In the counter-clockwise movement of disc 72,, it will be forced against friction surface m after the cam surface 6 leaves pin it and will move the brush during its full return stroke (counter-cloclnvise) after engage ment of the friction surface- It will, there fore, be seen that for each reciprocation of the mechanism, the brush will become separated, at the end of the stroke of the link 5 toward the right, from its driving disc n, and the momentum of said brush will cause it to rotate independently of its disc in a clockwise direction. Thus, when the brush is again engaged by the disc and is caused to move as a unit with said disc, the position of the brush with respect to said disc will have changed so that a clean brushing surface will be presented to the fabric. As the brush is turned clockwise about its axis, in a step-bystep manner about the same distance for each complete reciprocation, the brush is not only continuously cleaned, but its regular and continuous advance provides that all of the bristles will be subjected to substantially the same wear, so that the length of the bristles will all be maintained substantially the same over the entire brush regardless of the wear to which the brush is subjected.

After use, the bristles of the brush Zbecome operation of the device, the hell I llil shorter as a result of wear, and it becomes necessary to adjust the brush toward the work. This adjustment must be made very accurately and is accomplished by loosening the clamping screw a and turning the adjusting screw 2', which acts to draw rod 6 and bracket 6 down or up, as the case may be, with the result that the brush is moved to or from the work. By virtue of the adjusting screw, the rod Z) may be adjusted with a high degree of fineness, resulting in a nice adjustment of the brush, which is maintained by tightening up the clamping screw (0.

It is necessary that the cam surface If and the pin a on shaft be so adjusted in relation with each other that the disc 'n, which is re ciprocated with a constant stroke, be engaged and released from driving relation with the friction surface m of brush Z at the proper time in order that the brush in its reciprocation may have the proper clockwise and counter-clockwise strokes to properly do its work and at the same time have the desired stepby-step rotative movement independently of its driving means. It is also desirable that the pin shall not ride against the wall of the cut-out portion of the hub of disc n before the came surface 25 is reached. To effect the proper adjustment of the release and engagement of the disc and brush, the pin a may be adjusted relative to the cam surface tby turning the shaft 7' relative to the hub of disc a through the medium of segment '0, which, when the proper adjustment is made, is clamped in position by means of clamping bolt m.

The pin a may be adjusted clear of the wall of the cut-out portion of the hub by adjusting the shaft longitudinally through the medium of bushing h which, when threaded in or out of bracket 6, acts to move the shaft longitudinally with reference to the hub of disc 72.

\Vhen shaft is moved longitudinally, seg ment 4) moves with it and the clamping bolt 00 is adjusted to conform to increased or decreased distance of the segment from bracket 6.

By virtue of the arrangement of the guards, the guards and the brush assembly are unitary and may be removed and applied to the: looper as a unit. At the same time, the boX guard is partially supported by the rotating base of the looper and the looper mechanism is thoroughly protected from lint.

Having now fully described my invention, what 1 claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. In a thread end removing device for looping machines, a support adapted to be connected to the looping machine, a brush carried by the support, a comb carried by the support and in engagement with the brush, means for oscillating the brush, a guard pivotally secured to the support and adapted to overlie the brush, and means carried by the guard and adapted to bear on the rotating table of the looping machine whereby the guard will be supported.

2. In a thread end removing device for looping machines, a support adapted to be connected to the looping machine, a brush carried by the support, a comb carried by the support and in engagement with the brush, means for oscillating the brush, a box-like guard pivotally secured to the support and adapted to overlie the brush, and a strip of felt adjustably secured adjacent an edge of the guard and adapted to bear on the rotating table of the looping machine whereby the guard will be supported.

3. In a thread end removing device for looping machines, a support adapted to be connected to the looping machine, a brush carried by the support, a comb carried by the "support in engagement with the brush,

means for oscillating the brush, a guard pivotally secured to the support and adapted to overlie the brush, means carried by the guard and adapted to bear on the rotating table of the loopingmachine whereby the guard will be supported, and a skirt guard secured to and depending from said support.

In testimony of which invention, I have hereunto set my hand, at New York, on this 12th day of December, 1923.

MYER L. VICTORIUS. 

